When we read about a huge terror attack that happens thousands of miles away, our first reaction may be outrage at the attackers. But after the initial dust settles, the horrific reality the victims, survivors and their families must now endure begins to emerge. The truth is, each of us could just as easily have been those airport passengers or city dwellers, simply going about our business.

Terrified passengers at Brussels Airport have told how there ‘just blood’ everywhere after this morning’s bomb blast and likened horrific aftermath to ‘the apocalypse’.

Witnesses described gruesome scenes inside the terminal in the wake of the suspected suicide blast which has claimed the lives of at least 14 people and left 50 more injured.

Blood-soaked passengers sprinted for their lives as smoke filled the area near the check in desks.
One witness struggled to hold back tears as he described victims who had lost their legs lying in pools of blood in the airport’s main hall.

Alphonse Youla, who was working on a stand putting security wrapping around suitcases, said: ‘I heard a man shout some Arabic words then an explosion.. then a second explosion, a massive explosion, much bigger.

‘It was a horror. I saw at least seven people dead. There was blood. People had lost legs. You could see their bodies but no legs.’

Others described seeing ‘dismembered bodies everywhere’ and the ceiling collapsing after two blasts rocked the building.

These are scenes of war – and yet they are playing out not on some dusty battlefield, but within our own once peaceful cities. Our enemies know they are at war with us. I pray our next president will admit we’re at war with them.

Lieutenant Colonel West served 22 years in the United States Army and was elected to serve in the United States Congress in 2010. Allen is a Fox News Contributor and author of Guardian of the Republic: An American Ronin’s Journey to Faith, Family and Freedom.